Since the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GF) cancelled its funding round in 2011, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), governments, and people affected by the three diseases have all called for international efforts to scale up HIV, TB and malaria programmes to be put back on track.

Several key high-impact interventions have been put on hold while waiting for the GF to make new funding opportunities available again. The much-awaited awarding of new grants through the New Funding Model (NFM) in 2014 is probably the single most important opportunity within the next few years, as it will determine whether the fight against the three major killer diseases will be able to pick up speed. But will the GF’s New Funding Model allow countries to deliver the scale-up that is necessary?

After years of reforms and measures put in place to cope with a funding shortfall, the Global Fund’s New Funding Model presents an unmissable opportunity, and MSF expects to see further progress as countries seize this momentum. However, a lack of clarity at country level regarding the New Funding Model, combined with low-level country funding allocations, may pose a threat to this progress.

This issue brief outlines key aspects of the New Funding Model that are critical for countries to put into practice. The second section provides observations from MSF teams working in the field of HIV in Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Mozambique and Malawi regarding the current needs and challenges as these countries prepare their strategic plans and concept notes to access funding.

MSF calls upon the Global Fund, technical partners and other stakeholders to provide consistent and clear communication regarding the different components of the New Funding Model, with clear guidance on how their concept notes can effectively reflect the needs and their ‘full expression of prioritised demand’.